Booth Id:
BEHA027
Category:
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Year:
2020
Finalist Names:
Lund, Lauren (School: Farmington High School)
Abstract:
Two hundred high school students were surveyed to examine the correlation between the amount of time they spend on various forms of entertainment and their GPA. The survey sought to correlate the student’s success in school and their chosen form of online entertainment. Survey results were separated into groups of students by how they self-reported if they primarily spent their time using social media and those students who chose to spend the majority of their time using streaming services. That data was then analyzed further to determine trends among gender and the student’s year in school. Results were then compared to their self-reported GPA. Students were found to dedicate far more time to streaming services as compared to various forms of social media. The average time spent per day on social media was 151 minutes, whereas the average for streaming services was 202 minutes. Findings indicated that there was no statistical significance between the type of media the students were choosing to spend their time on and their GPA. The average GPA of both groups was 3.4, indicating there was no difference between the type of media used and the student’s GPA. While the type of media did not affect GPA, a correlation was found between the amount of time spent using either social media or streaming services on GPA. The relationship between GPA and time spent on various platforms as indicated by a statistically significant negative correlation of -.316 between minutes spent on social media and GPA, and a negative correlation of -.315 between minutes spent using streaming services and GPA. These results show that the more time a student spends using either form of entertainment, the lower their corresponding GPA.